Month: July 2017

As mobile device usage becomes more and more widespread, it seems everyone is fighting for users and their time. This trend has brought about new ways to measure the value of an app, something called mobile user engagement. The more users that engage with your app, the better the app is viewed.

One of the best apps in mobile user engagement is the picture and video sharing app known as Snapchat. Snapchat has higher user engagement than any other social media app. According to Bloomberg, average active users spend anywhere from 25 to 30 minutes in the app every day. Most brands would kill for that kind of engagement. The question then begs to be asked, what is Snapchat doing differently?

In this article, we are going to look at mobile user engagement and what can be learned from Snapchat’s success. Hopefully, through reading this, you will be able to employ the same strategies to increase engagement on your own app.

Gamification

The first thing we can learn from Snapchat about mobile user engagement is that people love games. Whether the games have a set purpose or are just for fun, gamifying your business model drives engagement. By having rewards and goals to achieve within your app, users have a reason to come back over and over again.

Snapchat understands this and has used it for their success. For example, they have a feature that tracks streaks of days you and a friend have sent each other pictures. This serves no purpose, but for some reason users want to keep their streaks alive and see how long they can go. This simple addition to the app gives users just another reason to come back to the app and stay active.

Exclusive content

Another mobile user engagement tactic that can be taken from Snapchat is providing exclusive content through your app. Snapchat allows their users to get a behind-the-scenes look at major award shows, red carpet walks, and other exclusive content that is only accessible through their app. In doing so, users are directed to the app and engagement skyrockets.

Use this for your own mobile app by hosting exclusive content on your app that can’t be found anywhere else. Dedicated users will engage with your app more and new users who might not have used your app otherwise are likely to jump onboard.

Meet customers where they are

One of Snapchat’s greatest strengths comes from their ability to meet customers where they are. Snapchat engagement is higher than others because it resides exclusively on their mobile phones where customers always have them.

In this way, Snapchat users are more prone to use their app throughout the day than say Facebook where they might check it when they are on their computer. For your own mobile app engagement, consider new ways in which you can help users throughout daily activities.

For example, if you have a delivery service app, allow your customers to order on the go. Prompt them to try new places in their area. Give them the tools they need to engage with your app. By meeting clients where they are and giving them options for engagement, your numbers should increase. Additionally, users will keep coming back once you have proven to be a valuable asset to getting things done.

Don’t hide your features

Another one of Snapchat’s features that increases mobile user engagement is how easy to use their various features are. Just about everything in the app can be accessed by simply swiping up or down, left or right. Giving your users features but hiding them away in the settings or three pages deep is not actually that helpful.

Instead, let your users know about new features and consider creating a short tutorial on how to use them. Snapchat users are more than familiar with messages from Team Snapchat, but without them no one would know what was new. By continuously updating features and educating your customers, you will have less frustrated users and increased engagement.

Let your users choose how they interact

A trap that a lot of apps fall into is having too many boundaries or limits to what their users can do. Snapchat opened the floodgates when it comes to mobile user engagement by providing the canvas and letting their users paint the picture.

Obviously this can be a difficult task for a non-social app or enterprise mobile app, but the lesson still applies. Instead of dictating how your users go about working with your app, give them the features and enough freedom to decide for themselves.

Users who choose the way in which they interact with your service will be far more likely to remain engaged once they discover what problem they are fixing with your app. Don’t be afraid to show them how everything works, but when it comes to how they use it, leave that up to them.

Follow the trends

Something else that Snapchat has done well to engage with their users is to follow the trends. By analyzing their user data, Snapchat has been able to follow trends and then provide their users with related content and material.

For example, as more and more mobile users created BitMojis for their online presence, Snapchat allowed users to incorporate their personalities into their pictures and stories. By giving these users more of what they want, they are just giving them another reason to stay engaged.

While not everyone has the capabilities of Snapchat, you can still follow the trends and use them to your advantage. However, keep in mind that trends are just that: trends. They won’t be around long and you don’t want to appear out of touch. Jump on a trend early or wait for the next one to come. The last thing you want is to be late to the party.

Final thoughts on mobile user engagement

While there is a lot to be learned about mobile user engagement from Snapchat, no company has it all figured out. Snapchat has higher engagement than others, yes, but they also have a lot of areas they can work on.

As you create your mobile app engagement strategy, use these tips and strategies with a grain of salt. Find ways to use the psychology behind them for your own success. In the end, your own user engagement success will rely upon you providing a solution to your customers’ problems. Other than that, the rest will come as you go.

We are living in a consumer-driven economy. This means that the customer has all of the power. With the growth of review sites like Yelp, consumers now have a platform to voice their opinions like never before. An increase in consumer power means that user retention is as important as ever. Users simply have more options in the market nowadays. In fact, it’s common for a mobile app to lose 80% of its users. These kind of statistics are scary to hear – especially for those who are launching a mobile app, but haven’t thought through their marketing strategy.

Let’s take a look at 5 strategies that some of the biggest brands and most successful companies use to retain their mobile users.

Customer Loyalty Programs

“When a rewards program can be moved from a punch card to an app, opportunities to interact and build customer loyalty grow exponentially,” Shep Hyken, a customer service and experience expert wrote in a recent article on loyalty programs for Forbes.

When I think of a premiere loyalty program, I can’t help but think of the My Starbucks Rewards program. The Starbucks loyalty program does a great job of providing value to the customer through interaction with the Starbucks mobile application. Not only are users able to earn points and rewards through the program, but they are able to gain specific benefits as well including ordering ahead of time and skipping the line at Starbucks. These benefits keep the user coming back. Starbucks isn’t strictly creating a system where consumers gain rewards, but there are increasing the number of opportunities Starbucks gets to interact with their customer.

Users keep coming back to the Starbucks mobile application because the application promotes a lifestyle, one filled with a plethora of Frappuccinos and iced lattes. Customer loyalty programs are a great way to build a relationship with your customer and keep them using your app on a daily basis.

New Content and Features

Content marketing is a key customer retention technique. Content creation is cheap, and an easy way to keep your customers engaged with your brand. New content, including articles, videos, and blog posts, is a great way to keep your users coming back to your app. Alerting them with texts, push notifications, or emails will help them stay up-to-date with your content and create an easy reminder for them to interact with your mobile application.

Additionally, new features and updates are a way to increase user retention. Constantly improving your product and adding features will let your consumers know that you are serious about providing an incredible customer experience. When they get a notification for an app update, they will also be enticed to login into your app and see what new features you are offering.

Big tech companies like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram are constantly adding new features and improving their mobile applications. The user needs to be at the heart of the experience, and your product needs to constantly be getting better.

Engaging and Actionable Communication

Push notifications, text messages, and emails from your mobile application are an easy way to keep your user engaged even they aren’t in your mobile application. The key to user retention is keeping your brand at the top of your user’s mind. If a user hasn’t logged into your app in a while, send them a message and offer them an incentive.

The MyFitnessPal app does a great job communicating consistently with its users. If you’ve logged a lot of your meals through their app, they will send you an encouraging message to keep up the good work. But, if you haven’t logged your meals and exercise, they will remind you to do so through push notifications. Make sure your messages are focused on user retention and getting users to interact with your mobile application.

User-Driven Ecosystem

User-generated content is the name of the game. Think of how Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram became popular. They thrived because they focused on being a platform for users to create their own content. Mobile applications that are built around user generated content have to overcome a few initial challenges to be successful, but once they get over these barriers their success can be immense:

Mobile applications and platforms that rely heavily on user-generated content need to make sure that they have enough users on their platform. Imagine Facebook if no one posted anything. That would be the worst! Getting enough users to create a sizable amount of content is crucial.

User-driven applications also need to make sure that the platform has specific features to make content-sharing ideal and cool. This is important because you need to ensure that users are able to recruit their friends to your platform.

Your entire platform doesn’t need to be built around user-driven content, but aspects of your design can lend themselves to user-generated content.

Including user-generated content in your mobile application is a good user retention strategy because users will feel more inclined to interact with your app if they have a voice in it and can share on your platform.

Connection to a Larger Community and Purpose

User retention is most successful when your user feels connected to a larger community through their mobile application. I think FitBit does a great job of this through their mobile application. Their app allows you to connect to other individuals in the FitBit community and compete in challenges. The application not only tracks your steps, but it also tracks other vitals that are crucial to your health. It’s tracking capabilities along with its challenges create a connection to a larger community and purpose through their platform.

These benefits contribute to successful user retention by focusing on delivering value to the mobile application user. These functionalities are a core part of what makes the FitBit mobile application click with users.

Final Thoughts

User retention is all about designing your mobile application in a purposeful way where you can continuously deliver value to your user. If you have a user-focused approach, you should have no problem retaining customers and constantly improving your user experience.

This morning I woke up with an email in my inbox from Alamo Drafthouse, a local cinema chain that I love that started in Austin, Texas. I am obsessed with Alamo Drafthouse, and it has the kind of cult-following that a lot of great brands enjoy. The email’s subject was perfect. It read, “Your next pizza is on us.” The viewable text of the email said, “We can’t wait to see you back at the Alamo Drafthouse.” This is a prime example of an incredibly thoughtful and personal customer retention strategy. I was blown away. I love when companies do this!

I was so touched by the email that I opened it. The email was clear and focused. They had noticed that I hadn’t been to Alamo Drafthouse in awhile and wanted me to come back. It’s true. Life has been busy recently, and I haven’t gone to the movies in a few months even though I was going quite often before. They probably noticed this. My habits had changed, and they wanted to retain me as a customer. This is customer retention strategy at its finest.

Everyone has a soft spot for their favorite brands. Think about a few of the companies that you just love to love. For me, I think of Nordstrom, Apple, National Geographic, and now Alamo Drafthouse. As a marketer, it also just so happens that I am obsessed with the great email marketing that is produced by these companies. Incredible companies are masters of customer retention. They know that investing in their customers is going to pay off in the long-run (and even in the short-run). It’s cheaper to invest in your current customers than spend tons of money acquiring new customers. Your loyal customers are also some of your biggest advocates, so they can do some of the marketing for you.

Let’s talk about some of the things you should be thinking about to develop an incredible customer retention strategy.

Be relationship-focused, not transaction-focused.

If you treat your customers like they are just dollar signs to you, then, trust me, they’ll know. We all know the feeling of a business clearly not caring about us other than the fact that we are buying something at their store. That’s the worst! If you are just focused on making money, you are clearly not even considering the happiness of your customer.

The first step to beefing up your customer retention strategy is having a relationship-focused mindset with your customers. This is easier said than done though. It really takes the effort of all of your employees, at every level.

One of my favorite customer retention strategies is celebrating special events with your customers! I especially love when businesses give me a free product or item for my birthday. It’s good business because it makes me come into the store to pick up my item or go to their website to redeem a code (which will most likely lead to me spending more money buying other things), and it also makes me feel valued as a customer.

Ideas to Help You Build Relationships with Your Customers

Make your customers feel like your friends. Here are 3 other cute ideas to build your relationship with your customer:

Use your customers’ names whenever you can. We love to hear our name. It makes us feel special. Put some effort into remembering their names and use them when you can whether that’s in an email or at the store.

Celebrate their anniversaries! Did your customer make their first purchase at your store a year ago? Surprise them with a discount for their one year anniversary with your brand.

Learn your customer’s preferences and use that knowledge to surprise them. If your customer loves rom-coms, send them email updates recommending rom-coms you think they would love!

Pay attention to customer analytics, and track trends.

Customer retention is all about learning about your customer and building a marketing strategy specific to their behaviors and needs. Customer analytics are at the heart of discovering these patterns in your customer’s habits. Be sure that you invest in tools that can help you collect data and track trends. This data will also help you create buyer personas and customer segments. These tools are going to be invaluable in order to build a personalized and strategic relationship with each customer.

It might sound overwhelming now to think about tailoring messaging and content to each customer, but this is where data will help you more than ever. You don’t need to create a strategy for each person, just each of your segments. Using customer analytics will help you identify customers who are losing interest in your brand and continue to nurture loyal patrons. All the answers are in the data.

Personalized content will do wonders for you.

I am just going to say this: content marketing is the key to a great customer retention strategy. In the age of inbound marketing, content is your ticket to your customers’ hearts. Creating content is cheap, and you can easily personalize it for each of your buyer personas. Building a relationship with your customers is all about creating a give-and-take. They give you something, you give them something. Content is a great way to build this relationship. Using customer analytics, you can track what content is really resonating with your customers.

A great way to deliver personalized content is by creating a newsletter, but establishing different tracks for your different personas. This way you can package personalized content and execute specific and unique messaging for each of your segments. Email marketing is the easiest way to engage in delivering personalized content to your consumers, so building out an email marketing program and utilizing an email automation program is a must.

Utilize technology at every turn.

Technology is making it possible to interact with your customers in new ways – maybe even ways you never even imagined. A good customer retention strategy is all about creating multiple touch points where you can engage with your customers. Software that allows you to automate SMS messaging, emails, and push notifications is an incredible way to communicate with customers like never before. With this kind of automation system you can:

Send a text message to your customer to remind them of their reservation or booking.

Activate a push notification when your customer is in your vicinity. Offer them a discount to ensure that they make it to your storefront!

Email your customer when it’s around the time of her monthly appointment. Make it easier than ever for her to book a seat at your salon!

This just gives you a little taste of the possibilities when you utilize technology that can get you on the screens of your customers’ mobile devices. Your messaging will be right in front of them making it easier than ever for them to build a relationship with your brand. A good customer retention strategy is all about making your interactions with your customer seem effortless and natural. You want to constantly provide them with value and contribute to the relationship in a meaningful way – ensuring that your efforts will pay off in the long-run.

Build a customer retention strategy today

Hopefully, this blog post gave you some things to think about when building up your customer retention strategy. Remember, it’s all about creating an authentic dialogue with your customer. Keep these things in mind, and you will have no problem building a happy customer base who will keep coming back for more.

On the first day of business school, you may have been taught that the “customer is king.” While a sound sentiment, this phrase doesn’t really mean much. Customers are obviously critical to the success of a business, but how do we make them “king?” This has been the question everyone has been trying to answer for decades. In the process, they have come up with a list (or cheat sheet) of customer retention techniques and strategies to keep customers satisfied and smiling.

In this article, we are going to review the best of these techniques. From content marketing to mobile app analytics, there is something out there to help everyone. If you are involved in business at all, customer retention is going to be important to you. After all, you want to keep the king happy, don’t you?

Where to start?

The hardest step in any journey is usually the first. Most people wanting to begin improving customer retention and churn rate often just don’t know where to start. The best and most important custom retention technique to work into everything you do is simply to have excellent customer service at all points. It’s simple, but it’s amazing how well your customers will treat you if you treat them well first.

Excellent Customer Service

From the beginning of their time with you, your customers should feel wanted. They should feel valued. By instilling the values of excellent customer service and professionalism in all aspects of your business, you will have started on the right track.

However, it’s not just about getting on the right track, but staying there and moving forward. Think of customer service as the car you take on your journey. If you do it well, it will be reliable and you won’t have to worry about flat tires. On the other hand, if you mishandle customer service, you will be on the side of the road before you leave town.

The only way to ensure that your company exudes excellent customer service is to make it a core value of your business. Do this, and the rest will be much, much easier.

The Cheat Sheet to Customer Retention Techniques

Now that you have laid your foundation, it’s time to start building. Along with customer service, there is a series of customer retention techniques that can work wonders for you. Some of them will be small, but meaningful. Others will be large projects that may not have immediate results, but will be the glue that holds the overall strategy together. Let’s talk about each of these.

Set expectations so you can exceed them.

One very simple customer retention technique is to set expectations at a level that you will have no problem exceeding. By doing this, your customers will be thrilled with the work you produce and excited to see what you can do next. Use this momentum to do something even better.

Treat your customers to fun “surprises.”

Once you have earned your customer’s trust, solidify that trust with fun “surprises” or gifts. These surprises are a good way to treat your customers to something special while again, exceeding their expectations.

If you have certain products or services you want them to use, package them as a surprise or treat and you will likely have much higher engagement and retention. The hardest hurdle to get over in the retention game is the first few days and weeks of a relationship, so use these to smooth out the road ahead.

Be punctual, prompt and professional.

Another small aspect of customer retention that will reap enormous benefits is constant professionalism. It is remarkable how uncommon punctuality and professionalism can be in the world of customer service. Get a leg up on your competition simply by being polite and professional to your customers.

Even if a customer, for whatever reason, does churn and you lose their business, continue to treat them well. When they try a new company and end up being treated poorly, they will remember how professional you were. Put in a little bit of effort now and trust us, your customers will thank you.

Celebrate their successes like your own.

When your customers win, everyone wins. When your customers lose, everyone loses. You should treat your customers’ success as if it were your own. Celebrate with them when things are going well and be ready with a plan when things go south.

Everyone enjoys celebrating good times together, especially when you reach a common goal. Celebrate with your customers and you will be surprised at their gratitude.

Educate and guide them.

One customer retention technique that not enough companies utilize is education. It is your job to make sure that your customers understand everything they need to know about you and your offering. Guide them through each step of the process and be ready to answer questions.

A popular way of educating customers is through content and content marketing. Content can be blogs, videos, testimonials, infographics, and so much more. Use content to tell your company’s story and guide your customers as you work through this together.

Use all tools at your disposal.

A fantastic thing about living in the digital age is just how many tools are at your disposal when it comes to custom retention techniques. There are now hundreds of ways to interact with your customers and keep them engaged.

However, not every tool is good for every project. Here are some of the best tools to use and when to use them.

Customer analytics: In the world of Big Data, customer analytics should be a part of every marketing decision. Make the numbers work for you by using your customer’s analytics to guide you on where and when to interact with them.

Email marketing: Use email marketing to reach customers that you haven’t heard from in a while. Send them a targeted offer or well-written email to spark their engagement. Email is one of the best ways to let them know you care and want the best for them.

SMS and Push: Incorporate SMS messaging and push notifications into your strategy to meet your clients where they are: on mobile. Use these tools to get your clients the information they need on the go. However, be careful not to become a nuisance. These tools should be used primarily for support and urgent service.

Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a sea of other powerful engagement tools are just a click away for most of your customers. Take advantage of this and stay active on social media. Create a detailed calendar of your posts to make sure you are being seen consistently by your customers.

There are so many other tools that we could cover, but we only have so much space. The important thing to remember is to use each of these tools to meet your customers where they are, regardless if that is on the street, on their computer, or on their phone.

Welcome complaints

A key aspect of customer service is opening up yourself to criticism and complaints. Some companies are slow to accept complaints as a normal part of business, but the insights you will learn from one loud unhappy customer might tell you what’s been in the back of 10 other, silently angry customers who you would have never heard from.

Make it easy for customers to leave reviews and ask questions. The worst thing you can do is turn these customers away. Not only will you lose that client, but unhappy customers are more likely to tell their friends about their bad experience. Treat your customers well the first time and make your customers feel heard that feel you have done otherwise.

The king isn’t always right

The final customer retention technique to remember is that customers are not always right. Although this has been an age-old adage used in customer service for decades, the truth of the matter is that there is a limit to what you can do for your customers.

While it will sometimes seem easier to appease your customers, in the long run your business and your customers will benefit from you standing up for your company. Bad customers are often not worth the time that they demand. Throughout it all, stay kind, stay professional, stay stern.

Your business and other customers are more important than one bad Yelp review. Do what you need to in order to see your business succeed and remember that while you should treat the customer like a king, the king isn’t always right.

In the world of internet buzzwords such as Scrum and SaaS (software as a service), you typically will find yourself explaining the meaning behind these new words to your co-workers, friends, and your boss. One of those terms that has been flying around is something called “user engagement platforms.” User engagement platforms, or UEPs for short, are platforms created to meet the needs of your customers.

Whether it is through text messages, push notifications, emails, or a myriad of other tools, these platforms are allowing businesses to interact with their users (or customers) in exciting new ways. As these become more and more popular, your boss might soon be showing up to your office wondering if you should employ one of these user engagement platforms for your own organization.

In order to help you be prepared for when this day comes, we have put together a few answers to the questions your boss is probably going to ask. We hope that by providing you with the things you need to know, you will be able to convince your boss to take advantage of this opportunity to engage your clients in a new way and create better customer relationships.

1.“What does it do?”

First question your boss might ask you when they hear about UEPs is “what does it do?” In order to answer that, let’s take a look at where user engagement platforms came from.

In a nutshell, user engagement platforms aim to get the right message to the right people at the right time. Some do this through proximity marketing, others through targeted advertising, but there are many ways to do it.

For example, if you run a fitness club, the platform will notice when your members haven’t been into the gym in a while. It then automatically emails them with a reminder about coming into the club and potentially a coupon to re-engage them.

It’s a simple idea, but when done correctly, user engagement platforms can make your customer retention woes a thing of the past.

2.“Why do I need it?”

The next thing your boss might say is, “Okay. I understand what it does, but why do I, or the company, need it?” This is a fair question to ask, especially if understanding what a UEP does wasn’t enough to convince them of the need.

With more of the world moving towards mobile, user engagement platforms are only going to become more prevalent and industry specific. However, what this might also mean is that they become more expensive.

Your boss knows that customer retention is important and I’m sure they know that mobile is not going away. By employing a user engagement platform, you are taking advantage of this trend while keeping your customers happy.

Most customers are looking for a company that will meet their needs when they need them. Not a week before, not a week after, but when they truly need them. User engagement platforms allow you to get your product to that person at the exact right time by monitoring their behavior and meeting them at that point.

3.“How much does this cost?”

As someone who used to work in sales, I know that sooner or later someone is going to ask, “How much does this cost?” They could be completely sold on the product and its capabilities, but if the cost doesn’t make sense, that’s that.

Thankfully for you and your boss, most user engagement platforms are relatively inexpensive. For a full-blown email engagement software like Marketo, prices can range from $2,000-$5,000 per month, but for a smaller outfit focusing on mainly SMS and text engagement, the price is somewhere around 1-2 cents per message. Some companies charge 5-6 cents for custom groups, but that is slowly changing as more competitors enter the market.

Regardless of what your goals are, money will always be an issue. However, with the amount of money you will be saving from retaining more customers with an engagement platform, you may not even notice the cost.

4.“How does it work?”

Now that your boss has a good idea of what they will be getting, they might start to wonder how this will work for them. The best part of a user engagement platform is that most of the process is fully automated. While it may take some time to put in customer information and sort users by segment, once that is done, for the most part it’s taken care of.

There is always the option of manual push campaigns for more targeted use of the platform. This would be used by an organization looking to engage with only specific clients that can’t be sorted by an algorithm.

On the flip side, when you work with an automated campaign, anytime one of your users meets the requirements for an engagement, a targeted message or email is sent automatically. By letting the platform work for you, you can focus on more important client issues.

5.“Will I still be in charge?”

Depending on your boss’s temperament, they might be concerned about talk of automation. After all, it seems like there are a few movies every year coming out about robots rising up to destroy us. But don’t worry! Even though the system is automated and your team on the backend will offer suggestions, you will have the end say.

This is actually an enormous value add to your business, as all of your decisions will be based on data and analytics about your customers. User engagement platforms simply seek to do the heavy lifting and grunt work for you, allowing you to make better decisions and meet your customers at the right place and right time.

6.“Who else is doing this?”

Short answer: everyone. Or at least, everyone soon will be. Just look at any restaurant that has begun advertising their own app in their stores. These apps are essentially user engagement platforms that alert you when you are close to their restaurant. Some even present a coupon every time you are in close enough proximity to their establishment.

Before long, user engagement platforms will be synonymous with customer retention. As more and more companies begin to adopt these platforms, it will soon become glaringly obvious who is being left behind. Don’t get left behind. Instead, get ahead of the curve and your competitors by adopting early.

7.“Why haven’t we been using this before?”

The last thing your boss might ask you is, “If this is so great, why haven’t we already been using it?” A valid question. The reason why we haven’t seen even further widespread adoption of user engagement platforms is that it is still an emerging technology and industry. Customer engagement is nothing new, but the definition of what it means to engage customers has changed significantly in the last few years.

As new technology continues to change the way we communicate with customers, these platforms will continue to shift and adapt to the tumultuous sea of mobile and online marketing. Right now, user engagement platforms are at the head of this trend and the best technology available.

It’s impossible to predict the future and what comes next, but for any organization that finds value in building out their community and retaining customers, user engagement platforms are a fantastic way to do so.

What happens next?

Now that you have a better understanding of how to tell your boss about user engagement platforms, the question for both of you becomes, “What happens next?” Whether or not you are ready to start employing a user engagement platform or not, with this information you have a few different paths to follow.

If a user engagement platform does sound like it would be a value add to your business, now you need to find the right vendor for you. There are a lot of emerging companies out there taking advantage of this trend, so you will have plenty to choose from.

On the other hand, if now doesn’t seem like the right time to begin with a UEP but you still want to retain more customers, check out this article onretention for beginners.

Whatever it is that you decide, the most important thing to remember is that your customers want to be engaged by you. They want someone to meet them at the right place at the right time with the right solution. There are plenty of ways for you to go about this, but the most important thing is to start now. Your success awaits, go out there and get it!

If you have been in the business or marketing world over the last few years, you may have heard buzzwords about content, content marketing, and content creation. You might think that content is the driving force of the entire internet, and you wouldn’t be far off. What you may not know is that content marketing should also be one of your core customer retention techniques.

Content is everything that is encountered as part of the user experience of online websites, and it can be overwhelming. For example, over 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute! You could try to watch it all and be weeks behind after only a few minutes.

With the immense sea of content out there, some businesses don’t see the point in adding to the noise. However, content and content marketing can actually be the key to building your business and a valuable customer retention technique. In this article, we are going to explore exactly how you can use content marketing to retain customers and stand out in the wide expanse.

Who is it for?

The number one question you should keep in mind when using content for marketing purposes is “who is this for?” Your target audience will drive your decisions in all aspects of your business, but especially your content. By creating tailored content for your ideal user, they will be far more likely to engage and stick around.

Once you have established who your content is for, now comes the matter of creating the content. Today we are talking about using content as a customer retention technique, so our target audience is current or former clients and customers. We’ll keep them in mind as we explore different ways to approach the content itself.

Planning

The next important step in creating content that will help retain customers is planning. By planning out your content, you can avoid mistakes weeks in advance and ensure that your brand message is on point.

Something you seriously want to avoid that can be helped with planning is inconsistent frequency in posts. Oftentimes you will see a company attempting to employ content marketing, but they only post when they remember to and it looks unprofessional. By creating a clear plan for your content, you can avoid this costly mistake.

Content calendar

By creating a content calendar for all of your channels, you are able to cut through the noise and deliver valuable content to your clients on a consistent basis. Along with this, tools such as Hootsuite and HubSpot can allow you to schedule posts out months in advance.

Use the tools you have at your disposal to appear professional and thoughtful. Having your customers think “I have so much content to choose from” over “When was the last time they posted something?” will do wonders.

Solving problems

Now that you have identified your target customers and created your calendar, it is time to start using your content to solve customer problems. Whether you answer frequently asked questions or highlight an under-utilized feature, providing content to your customers that solves their problems will leave them happy and keep them around.

Let’s take a look at a few different ways you can do this.

Bringing back “lost sheep”

When you are noticing that certain members or customers are not staying engaged, take a step to be proactive. By bringing back any “wandering” or “lost sheep,” you are able to reaffirm your value and might even have a more loyal customer afterward.

A helpful way to do this might be by sending them an email with a few articles related to their segment. Segmenting customers will make this easier for you and allow you to send content specific to their needs.

According to onestudy, 25-60% of your dormant customers will be receptive to your attempts to regenerate their business if you approach them the right way. These customers are ready to have their problems solved, so don’t wait for them. Make the first move and secure that customer!

Guide them on their path

Sometimes all that is standing between a customer staying and leaving is understanding. Whether it is understanding how to use your product, app, or what have you, offering them guides to help them understand your offering can be the reason they stay.

Work on creating content that walks your users and customers through how to interact with your product or service. By giving them all that they need, you aren’t leaving any gaps for them to sneak out through.

Customers are people, too

Another reason for consistently engaging your customers with content is that they might just need someone to show they care about them. Customers are people too and by reaching out to them and proactively solving their problems, your brand will be that much more trustworthy.

Types of content

There are numerous ways to approach content creation, but again, the target audience of this content is key. Do your customers prefer reading articles to watching videos? Or would an informational webinar be the best approach?

Finding the right type of content to get the most of this customer retention technique is very important, so let’s take a look at a few of the different options available.

Infographics

Infographics get shared more, viewed more, and people love them. If you are able to distribute valuable information to your clients in an easy to process way like this, you might just score yourself a viral hit.

Keep in mind that infographics can be expensive and time consuming to make. However, if you have planned out your content and have a good use for an infographic, definitely take advantage of that.

Videos

Videos allow for a huge amount of variety in how you want to present your content. For example, a gym might use videos to walk through an exercise. While on the other hand, a tech start-up might use videos to showcase their app.

Regardless of how you use videos, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

Videos aren’t supposed to be too long. Keep them to two-three minutes for best results.

Making a video is also not the cheapest customer retention strategy. Start small and work your way up if you aren’t sure which direction you are heading.

How-tos

Similar to guides, how-tos will allow you to identify and solve customer problems. By filling your website with various how-tos, whether it’s how-to make a recipe or debug your computer, your clients will praise you for the added value they will bring.

Remember that how-tos are like videos, in that the options are limitless. But, try your best to keep your topics specific. Thorough explanations will do much more for your customers than general tips.

Case studies

A case study is a great way to show off previous customer successes. Nothing will solidify a customer’s confidence in your brand like proving that others have been there before and thrived.

When writing your case study, try to make sure it doesn’t come off as pure marketing. You need to tell an interesting story of how you helped other customers like those you hope will read the case study. Keep it interesting. Keep it real.

eBooks

An eBook is the perfect format for presenting detailed, thorough content to your customers. Often exchanged for free (after joining a mailing list), eBooks will allow you to show your customers that you know what you are talking about and offer them more than a blog can.

Keep in mind that a good eBook needs a powerful title. Something that will prompt customers to want to check it out. Along with that, design is going to be the difference between a good eBook and a great eBook. Spend time with a designer to make sure your eBook is both readable and has good flow.

Conclusion

In 2017, the tools available to create meaningful content are just within your grasp. By employing this customer retention technique, not only will you have the means to answer your customers’ questions, but you will understand how to better solve their problems. Before we go, here are a few closing thoughts to reflect on as you start planning your content strategy.

The most important part of content marketing is starting. Once you get the hang of how it works, it will be much easier. If you still aren’t sure of how to properly get started, check out thisarticle on content strategy for tips.

Think of content marketing as a savings account. While you are putting in the money it might not seem to be working, but over time you will start to see returns. Put in the work and trust us, you will reap the benefits.

Ask your customers for help. Millions of dollars are spent every single year trying to get inside the minds of customers. If you can, avoid the additional cost and simply ask your customers what kind of content they want to see. You might find out things you never would have thought of yourself.

We hope that this article has helped you on your path toward retaining even more customers

How Carrefour used iBeacon technology?

Carrefour has used this technology to keep its consumers inform about the product, services, and actual offers.

But to access this facility, consumers first have to download the Carrefour shopping app. Once the app is download, consumers can select the list of the product which they want to shop.

Once the shopping list is selected, the app calculates routes and shows the path to follow on the store map. As the consumer move from one area to another, the app route automatically updates and shows consumers their next direction.

Results

With iBeacon technology, Carrefour application engagement rate went up high by 400% and the number of app users also grew up by 600% in a period of seven months.

But, to access this facility consumers first have to download Meadowhall iBeacon app on their smartphone. Once the app is download, consumers will receive Ladies Night event alert message on their phones.

Results

Ladies night event was highly successful; it saw more than 500 app downloads within the first three hours and over 500 offers redeemed by the visitors.

All 120 hotspot offers redeemed within the first 52 minutes of the event. Meadowhall also won the Purple Apple Merit Award for strategic marketing for using ‘groundbreaking’ mobile phone beacons.

3. Elle

Elle is a worldwide lifestyle magazine of French, founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Helene Gordon in 1945. The magazine focuses on Fashion, Beauty, Health and Entertainment.

Which Proximity marketing technology did Elle used?

Elle magazine used Geo-fencing and iBeacon technology to promote its September issue magazine.

How Elle used Geo-Fencing & iBeacon technology?

Elle used this technology to target those customers who are close to Elle shop, the targeted consumers receives a push-up notification of a product suggested by Elle.

In case, if a consumer choose to visit the store, listed with that particular product, he/she get another notification with a promotion offer by RetailMeNot through beacons.

Results:

Through this technology, the magazine generated the engagement rate of 112% and in addition to this, Elle witnessed 500,000 in-store visits through beacon marketing in five weeks, which is 100 times higher than the usual number.

Woolworths is an Australian based supermarket which is owned by Woolworths limited. This supermarket is specialized in selling groceries, magazine, DVD and stationery items.

Which Proximity marketing technology did Woolworths used?

Supermarket giant Woolworths used iBeacon technology in one of the Woolworths stores in Sydney. The idea behind using iBeacon technology is to improve customer service around click and collect app of Woolworths.

How Woolworths used iBeacon technology?

Woolworths used iBeacon technology to target those consumers who are within a certain radius of the store by asking them if they wish to collect their online orders which they have ordered earlier.

If the consumer selects “Yes”, a notification will send to Woolworths picking system. After receiving the notification from a consumer, Woolworths team start assembling the order. After assembling the orders, another notify message sent to the consumer telling him/her that his/her order is ready.

Result

Through this technology, Woolworths reduced the collection service time by 50% and they also have registered a record collection time of 15 seconds.

And in addition to this, Woolworths announced that they will soon roll out beacons across all of their 254 click-and-collect stores with the aim of allowing consumers to place their order online and pick them up in store.

Macy is a departmental store which is own by Macy’s, Inc who operates 789 department store.

Which Proximity marketing technology did Macy’s used?

Macy’s used Beacon technology at some of its departmental stores. The motive behind enabling this technology is to target those consumers who enter their Beacon zone by push-up notification.

How Macy’s used Beacon technology?

Through beacon technology, Macy’s targeted those consumers who are closer to the shop by sending them a push-up notification, which includes discounts, rewards and personalized level of deals.

They also have used Beacon technology on Thanksgiving day for an in-store contest focussing on Pinterest for displaying deals and a mobile-enabled shopping list.

Results

Through Beacon technology, Macy’s boost up its in-store engagement by 16 times and app retention by 6 times.

6. McDonald’s

McDonald’s is an American hamburger food restaurant chain, founded in 1940. It is one of the world largest restaurant chain serving approximately 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across approximately 36,615 outlets.

According to a BBC report published in 2012, McDonald’s is the world’s second largest private employer (behind Walmart with 1.9 million employees), 1.5 million of whom work for franchises.

Which Proximity marketing technology did McDonald used?

McDonald’s used Beacon Technology at 15 of its café in Istanbul. The idea behind using this technology is to enhance the personal relationship with customers as well as to promote a new line of coffee.

How McDonald’s used Beacon technology?

To promote a new line of coffee, McDonald’s first tapped with popular Turkish app called shopping genie to target its customers while they were around the premises of a local McD Café.

Each time consumers, with the mobile app installed on their smart device enter Beacon zone, receive a mobile coupon prompting them to purchase a coffee and collect one beverage from the new drink line for free.

Results:

McDonald’s achieve 20% conversion rate with 30% of user who received the promotion.

20% of loyalty app consumer’s shown interest in receiving such types of offers.

Over the lifetime of your enterprise, customers will come and go for differing reasons. Some clients will find a better solution for their needs, some will no longer need your services, and some will leave because they are no longer happy with your product or services. We want to help you solve this problem and reduce churn rate in a couple of easy steps.

However, a high rate of client churn does not have to be inevitable. There are many different ways that you can reduce your churn rate by using technology. We have put together 7 strategies for you that can be the difference between losing or keeping a valued customer.

Let’s get into it.

(1)Communicate with your customers

Our first strategy for reducing client churn is a fairly obvious one, but you would be surprised how little it is implemented. Communication with your customers is going to be the most important part of reducing client churn since it is ultimately up to them whether they stay with you or not.

Customer communication can take a few different forms.

Targeted emails (we’ll talk more on this later).

Status updates and quality assurance.

Implementing changes and shifting focuses.

Phone calls to talk over their service and goals.

The most important part of this strategy is maintaining a consistent dialogue with your customers in order to reduce churn rate. They are paying you to do work for them, but, if they don’t even have a relationship with you, switching to another company won’t be that big of a deal.

On the other hand, if you have had good communication with your customers from day one, they will be much more likely to stay with you. Your job with customer communication is to make sure that they 1. know who you are, 2. understand the value you bring to them, and 3. view your company in a positive light. Do this, and you will be off on the right foot.

(2)Determine your weaknesses

Another important strategy for reducing your churn rate is fully understanding your weaknesses and proactively combating them at every turn. While clients are often happy when they first sign on as a customer, a combination of buyer’s remorse and need for instant gratification will kick in and soon they will be looking for reasons to leave.

Again, communication here is key. How will you ever know what customers view as weaknesses if you never open that dialogue for them to give you feedback? Reduce churn rate by ensuring that your customer service and sales staff both understand what your weaknesses are and are ready to answer any questions that customers might have about them.

Being ready to match any doubts with solid information about how you are working on it and the benefits you provide that counteract it will do wonders for setting your customers’ minds at ease.

(3)Identify at-risk customers

You will never be able to reduce churn rate in a vacuum and often there are multiple warning signs and red flags that will pop up before the client eventually cancels your agreement. Do not ignore these red flags! Instead, try to send information to these clients to try and get them reengaged in the dialogue and find out what is bothering them.

What happens if they aren’t engaging with you in the conversation? Well, first of all, do not send them a “We Miss You” email. This might end up doing more harm than good. You need to begin by segmenting your customers based on engagement.

By putting these customers into their own segment, you can send them targeted emails to try and reignite their interest and engagement. Sometimes, there will be nothing you can say or do to keep a customer, but understanding who might be more prone to quit and meeting them where they are might be exactly what they need to keep them on. For more info on segmentation, check out thisbeginner’s guide.

(4)Focus on the onboarding process

40-60% of clients who sign up for a free software will never pick it up and use it again. This is an enormous red flag for many companies, but we like to see it as a huge opportunity for improvement. Try not to get overwhelmed by the numbers and divide your goals into things you have control over and things you don’t.

If you customers don’t understand the product, don’t know what it does, and can’t figure out what the value of it is, then why would they ever use it? It is your job in the onboarding process to teach your customers these things and wow them enough for them to come back to your product. A few metrics to watch and areas of opportunity include:

Determine your friction points. If you are seeing drop-offs at certain points in the process, review them with your team to make sure you haven’t missed a potential customer turn-off.

Identify highly volatile metrics and keep an eye on them. Companies that watch the areas where customers typically churn have been able to identify problems in their process, like customers using their product incorrectly or not spending time in the system.

Figure out the highlights. Once you know where customers who have loved the product were finally sold on the idea, highlight these areas and push them so that other customers will hopefully have the same “aha!” moment.

By tracking the onboarding process, identifying key red flag areas and potential opportunities for success, you should have a much better idea of how to get your customers on-boarded properly and how to retain them for longer than before.

(5)Watch your competition

Something that is almost as important as tracking your own clients is tracking the moves your competition is making and ensuring you aren’t falling behind. There are multiple online tools for keeping up with your competitors. We recommendClientHeartbeat or HubSpot, especially if you aren’t sure who your main competitors are. There may be someone out there you need to be aware of.

A common mistake that companies make when tracking competition is trying to match every move that they make without fitting it into your overall marketing strategy. What companies need to remember and understand is that sometimes your competitors will simply be better than you in some areas, but this doesn’t mean that you should give up.

Instead of trying to improve the areas that you are O.K. at and your competition is great at, focus on what makes you unique and what you are best at and focus on that. The goal is to be the best at the areas you know and let your competition hurt themselves by trying to be good at everything. By improving on your best features and continuing to improve them, you will be miles ahead of your competition instead of playing the Hare to their Tortoise.

(6)Send personalized emails

We touched on this briefly earlier, but something as small as sending personalized emails can truly be the difference between customers staying or going to another company. You may be asking, “What does this mean exactly?” By personalized emails, all we are talking about is showing your customers that you care enough to send them an email with their name from a real person.

Instead of having a generic, no-reply company email address send them updates, have different people at your company use their emails to send them reminders and retention-focused emails. All of this can still be done through an email marketing software. Simply create an email template where it will put in the customer’s name for each specific email and send it from your address.

And voila! Through a few basic steps you now have boosted your credibility amongst your customers and taken another step to reduce churn rate for your business.

(7)Thank your customers

Our final strategy is definitely the simplest, but it bears repeating. Thank your customers. Obviously, they are paying you for a service, so don’t get too personal or sentimental with your thank yous, but customers want to know that they are a valuable part of your client base.

Whether it is following the initial signup, after an anniversary, or simply a random time, sending emails to your clients thanking them for their support will not only remind them of the good work you have been doing but will give them a good feeling. You can also potentially use this opportunity to present a product offer or promotion, only furthering the depth of their agreement with you and the value you offer.

By following these seven basic strategies, you will be well on your way to higher retention and a reduced churn rate that could translate into thousands of dollars in profits every month. Don’t ignore the signs and get started today!

The gym and health club industry is a 21.8 billion dollar industry. Many Americans are obsessed with getting fit and staying healthy, but it’s no surprise that 67% of people with gym memberships never use them. We all know the feeling of enthusiastically signing up for that gym membership on January 1 and then forgetting about it 2 weeks later.

58 million Americans use a gym or health club, but the average gym member wastes $39 a month because they don’t use their membership enough. Clearly, fitness and health clubs have a huge challenge in not only gaining, but retaining customers. Let’s take a look at a few strategies that will help you attract new customers and build relationships with old ones.

Get them in the door.

We have all seen those offers that seem too good to be true – maybe an amazing BOGO deal or something like $1 for your first month of a service. While these offers might seem crazy at first, they definitely can be effective in getting people in the door and trying your product or service. These kinds of offers are particularly successful in the fitness and health industry. Consumers love a trial period to see if your gym is a good fit for them. If they love it, they are going to be more likely (and happy) to pay the full price for your services once their trial period is over.

A great deal can get them in the door, but be prepared to amaze them with your customer service and offerings once they’re there. This is a great opportunity to shower new customers with love and affection once they have started a trial and welcome them into your community. This will help them stay motivated and keep them committed to your club.

Technology is a great way to build community at your club. Developing a mobile application or creating a Facebook group for your membership can keep your customers motivated and connected. These tools can be a great way for gym members to find friends, share stories, and learn about new programming.

Listen to the needs of your customer.

Fitness and health can be incredibly personal for an individual. Your services therefore need to personalized and diverse for your customer base. Using customer analytics to understand the needs of your customer can help you provide services they will find most useful. Customer relationship management (CRM) software can be a great way to learn about your members. Listen to what your customers do and not necessarily what they say. They might say they want more yoga classes, but, if the classes being offered aren’t full maybe that isn’t the best way to go.

Analyze customer data to deliver content specific to each of your members. You can begin to create lists in your contact database based on consumer behavior and send your members offers via email or push notifications that they might find most useful.

Deliver value to your members.

Once you have a good understanding of your customer base, you can start creating content for your members that will keep them engaged. Remember that a majority of gym members underutilize their membership! You can keep your customers interested by interacting with them on social media, posting on your blog, and creating videos and resources for them.

You want to be able to show your members that the membership is worth its cost. If members can exercise elsewhere for free like the park or around the city, it might be hard to justify a membership. This is where valuable content and services can help communicate the value of your membership. Free sessions with personal trainers, blog posts focused on weight loss, and videos that feature healthy recipes could help keep your members coming back.

According toMarketingWizdom, the average business loses 20 percent of its customers annually.

Here’s the deal,

Simply by failing to care for their customer relationships companies are letting a fifth of their clients walk away. If you own a business yourself you might be asking, “Is that happening to me? Am I doing everything I should from a customer retention marketing perspective?”

But

If this is the first time you are thinking about it, the answer is probably no. Even worse, in some industries, that 20 percent number can reach as high as 80 percent!

Anyone who runs a business knows that the scariest thing to encounter is an empty pipeline, so how has this become such a pervasive problem?

In the same way current always takes the shortest route in electricity, the answer is to this question is just as simple. The best way to grow customers is to never lose them in the first place. This is easier said than done.

Best Customer Retention Strategies

The beginner’s guide we have put together, your customer retention marketing plan will get the jump start it needs to bring that churn rate down and make your fear of losing customers a thing of the past.

1. Customer Loyalty

Every business loses customers. This is simply a fact that you are going to have to live with. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t customers that you can save.

The entire idea behind customer retention marketing is making sure that your clients never become inactive, always know how to get in touch with you, and are constantly being sold on your company’s value even after the sale occurs.

A common stat that is used in customer retention marketing literature is that it is seven times more expensive to find a new client than it is to retain a current one, but there is a reason why this so often brought up. Think about that for a second.

Seven times more expensive. That is a huge deal and a lot of wasted money if you write off every customer as soon as you make a sale.

In order to make sure that you never have to worry about that stat again, let’s get into a few of the specific ways that you can retain customers through retention marketing.

2. Implement a Text or Email Automation Platform

In today’s market, customers want to stay engaged with the businesses they work with. One of the best ways to do this is through SMS marketing and email automation. By automating your messaging through multiple channels, you can define your customer’s journey from day one and optimize their interactions with your business. This ensures that they always know exactly who they are working with and won’t go looking elsewhere.

On top of that, close to 98% of text messages are read within 2 minutes. This means that you can run highly segmented and personalized campaigns that target specific customers with messaging that they will receiving almost instantaneously. Think of what that could mean for your business!

3. Sell them and then sell them again

There are a lot of companies out there that focus all of their energy on the sale. They celebrate with group chants, cheers. Some of them even hit gongs. And you know what?

They should. Finding a new client is a cause worth celebrating. Usually, these sales come from hours on the phone and weeks of prospecting. So yeah, why not?

Here is what those companies shouldn’t do: abandon the customer before the ink is dry on the contract. If you want to lock in the sale and ensure that you won’t lose the customer the next time they hear your voice, start selling them immediately.

This might look like asking them what questions they have, finding pain points and providing solutions. Do this in a professional and efficient way and not only will you have a loyal customer on your hands, you might have an in with a few referrals.

The idea is simple: Take care of your customers and they will take care of you.

4. Kill them with kindness

The best way to keep customers around is to provide them with such excellent customer service so that they not only stay with you, but enjoy your service enough to keep coming back and tell their friends about you.

Most business owners will tell you that word of mouth referrals are there bread and butter. What better in with a referral than if the person referring you has nothing bad to say?

With this in mind, let’s take a look at a few ways to kill them with kindness and provide extraordinary customer service.

5. Chivalry may be dead, but courtesy is in

A powerful yet simple way to improve customer relationships is to treat them politely, professionally, and pleasantly. This isn’t rocket science but people tend to be nicer to you if you are nice to them first.

This shouldn’t only be when you are dealing with customers, by the way. By making a habit of treating your employees and co-workers with the same level of courtesy that you would the CEO of the company, you can establish a culture of kindness that will speak volumes to anyone who comes into contact with your business.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t just happen by accident. You need to set the example and the standard for how your company intends to treat people and you need to be consistent. Whether your client calls your sales team or customer service, an intern or the President, they should be treated honestly and fairly, whatever that might look like.

6. Celebrate complaints

According toTrackur, 96% of unhappy customers won’t complain to you. Not only that, but those who don’t complain to you will on average tell 15 of their friends. Word of mouth is a double-edged sword in that way.

So, what does this mean for customer retention marketing? Well, first, it emphasizes my previous point about customer service. You may not realize exactly what kind of reputation your company has, but no one ever heard of a company losing customers because they were too nice

Second, this means that when you receive a complaint, you should celebrate. Not only that, but you need to be very proactive about fixing the complaint in any way that you can.

Obviously, there will be certain things you can’t fix, but by handling a complaint in the right way the first time, your customer might be happier with you than someone who has never had a complaint in the first place.

7. Remind them you exist

So far we have mainly been talking about active things that you can do to retain customers, but sometimes it’s as simple as reminding them you exist. Through a couple of simple customer retention marketing strategies, you can keep customers around simply by saying “Hey! We’re still here.”

8. Blogs

Blogs are a great way to keep your company at the forefront of your customer’s mind. Use this as an opportunity to answer frequently asked questions about your product. Or, for some, blogs are a great way to start the sales process over again.

Not only will actively updating and writing for your website keep you in your customers’ minds, but it will also help with yoursearch rankings, potentially leading to new sales. Never underestimate the power of awell maintained blog.

9. Social Media

Social media is another fantastic way to remind clients about your business, but it can also be a turn-off if done incorrectly. Plan out the content on your social media pages and ensure that you aren’t coming across as salesy in the posts. You want aim for insightful and at arms-length, but you don’t want to be their best friend.

10. Surveys

If you read the section on complaints and thought, “I never get complaints,” maybe you need to start. A great way to do this, while reminding your customers about you, is through surveys.

However, when creating the survey, don’t seek out complaints with your questions. Instead, ask the questions you want answers to and leave a box open for customer comments.

It may be that the only reason you haven’t received complaint is that your clients didn’t know how to get them to you. All you can do is give them a place to and hope for some valuable insight.

11. Loyalty Programs

One way to keep your brand in the minds of customers without much effort on your end is through loyalty programs. Create a program that rewards clients for staying with you. Whether it is a discount on their next purchase or some kind of reward they can work towards, incentivizing your clients to remain loyal might be all it takes to keep them around.

12. Personal Touches

Finally, make sure they know you care. An easy way to do this is by adding personal touches to your emails or branded messaging. This can be as simple as remembering their birthday or as complex as knowing what kind of food they like. Either way, take notes and treat them well. I promise they won’t forget it.

What next?

Now that you understand where to get started with customer retention marketing, the world is your oyster. But don’t wait for this to be a problem before implementing your strategy. Like we said at the beginning, you might already be losing your customers and not even realizing it.

Get out there. Make a change. Grow your business. It really can be that simple.